Lesley Alexander Prize

[Simon]

From what I have found on Google Books, the Lesley Alexander Prize for Composition at the end of 19th-beginning of 20th century seems to have been a milestone in the career of some European composers. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Joseph Holbrooke, Edmondstoune Duncan, Percy Godfrey, David Stephen and many others distinguished themselves in this chamber music competition. Yet, many of these are still unsung. What else do we know about the Lesley Alexander Prize? Is there a list of all contestants who entered in this competition?

Thanks!

[albion]

Holbrooke won the prize in 1901 with his Sextet Soul (later retitled Israfel and assigned the opus number 33a), but who Alexander was I have no idea! 

It was clearly a forerunner of the better-known Cobbett competition and it would be very interesting to discover more detail about the history of the award.

[chill319]

...who Alexander was I have no idea!

Lesley and Alexander were two different individuals, I believe. This is a RCM prize, but searching the RCM site shows only that in recent times the prize has gone to performers. In short, for anyone who finds the RCM near at hand, this is a primary research opportunity. The old literature on the "coveted" prize stops more or less where Simon stops:

1895 Samuel C[oleridge] Taylor. Opus 5 Fantasiestucke for String Quartet [?also arranged for string orchestra]
1896 Samuel C[oleridge] Taylor. "for composition"
1897 Thomas Dunhill. Quartet op. 16
1898 William Edmonstoune Duncan. Quintet in F for Piano and Winds
1900 Percy Godfrey Lesley. Piano Quintette
1901 Joseph Holbrooke. Third Sextet in F minor for Piano and Winds, op. 33
1901 David Stephens. Trio for Oboe, Horn, Piano
19?? Rosa Hertzberg

[Simon]

...who Alexander was I have no idea!

Lesley and Alexander were two different individuals, I believe.

It seems quite unlikely, since his death is reported in The Monthly Musical Record, Volume 40, p. 5 ("death of Mr. Lesley Alexander, who for many years offered prizes for chamber music"). Also, in an article published by The Musical News, Volume 16, p. 422 about Duncan's Quintet, Lesley Alexander is described as an "enthusiastic musical amateur". Even more, the Zeitschrift der Internationalen Musikgesellschaft (1904, Volume 5, p. 297) claims he is "member of the Musical Association". In the same issue, we learn that it is Fritz Kauffmann who won that year's prize for his Woodwind Quintet op. 40.

Even though it is great to have the winners names, I would be glad to learn who the runner-ups were. For instance, was N. H. Rice Quintett for piano and winds op. 2 written for the 1898 competition? And Percy Sherwood's Trio for oboe, horn and piano, for the 1901 competition?

Simon

[eschiss1]

hrm. mysterious fellow, Mr. Rice. his quintet is at IMSLP. will see if I can turn up anything... about the main subject as well of course. (born 1851, New York, death date don't know yet.)

I wonder if it was a pseudonym?  Eduard Reuss was born in New York in 1851 too...

[Simon]

hrm. mysterious fellow, Mr. Rice. his quintet is at IMSLP. will see if I can turn up anything... about the main subject as well of course. (born 1851, New York, death date don't know yet.)

I wonder if it was a pseudonym?  Eduard Reuss was born in New York in 1851 too...

I have some doubt about Rice and Reuss being the same person... Reuss was probably more of a Lisztian/Wagnerian than a Brahmsian (he studied with Liszt and his entry in the Deutsche biographische Enzyklopädie says that he took part at the Bayreuth Festival for many years; on the other hand, his Quintet op. 2 sounds quite Brahmsian in style).

There's also one thing about his birthday : IMHO, it's seems surprising that an almost 50-year-old man would move to Germany to study with Iwan Knorr and would then publish his opus 2... But NH Rice might still be a pseudonym!

[eschiss1]

also, on checking again, Eduard Reuss seems to have published many books but very little if any music- which proves, it is true, nothing at all, in itself...

[Simon]

Sorry for resurrecting that old thread, but I've just noticed that two composers mentionned here in the last few days, Ernest Walker and Edith Swepstone, each wrote a quintet for horn and string quartet.

In the 1901, vol. 42 edition of The Musical Times, there is a review on page 247 of a concert showcasing Emil Kreuz Horn Quintet "which recently gained the prize in a competition organized by Mr Lesley Alexander."

http://books.google.fr/books?ei=4ZT2UabCLrW34AOY5YDwAg&hl=fr&output=html_text&id=Xsq8s9LRMo0C&dq=kreuz+horn+quintet+lesley&q=kreuz+#search_anchor

I wouldn't be surprised that Mrs Swepstone's and Mr Walker's Quintets entered the same competition, though proofs haven't materialized yet.

[eschiss1]

Was it offered for different instrumentations every year? In 1904 one finds written in the Musical Herald  of September 1 that "the Lesley Alexander Prize of £20 offered for a trio for piano, oboe and horn was also won by Mr. [David] Stephen." (1869-1946, I think.)

[Simon]

Was it offered for different instrumentations every year?

Yes, it is my understanding. Chill319's reply above gives a good idea of the many imposed instrumentations.

[Simon]

According to Le Ménestrel (April 1899, p. 133), winner of the 1899 competition was Giuseppe Frugatta (1860-1933) for his Quintetto for violin, clarinet, horn, cello and piano.

That year's competition is usually referred to as the "International College of Music Competition", though the Zeitschrift der Internationalen Musikgesellschaft (1901, vol. 2, p. 212), gives the name of three winners of the Lesley Alexander Prize (Edmondstoune Duncan, Frugatta and Percy Godfrey). Complete name of the College was actually the "London School of Organ and International College of Music", with Dr Yorke Trotter, principal. Works entering for the Lesley Alexander Competition were to be sent to Dr Trotter.

Interestingly, Thomas Dunhill seems to have been submitting other works after winning the 1897 competition with his Op. 16 Quartet, since he wrote as well a Horn Quintet (op. 6) and the Quintet op. 3 (violin, clarinet, viola, horn and piano, just like Frugatta's). Do you know any other composer who seems to have composed similar works during the same years?

[eschiss1]

(Not sure what you mean by similar instrumentations - wind, strings and piano?
Isn't the Frugatta a sextet?)
Tovey, though not for the same reasons? (Though that's for horn, oboe and piano, alternately for piano trio.)... (Baussnern's clarinet, horn, violin, cello and piano quintet was published in 1905...) if you mean British and for winds, piano and possibly but not necessarily other instruments, and sometime ca.1900...
hrm. will have to take a look...
Edmoundstone Duncan I've heard of (and the other two also, I believe, though at least with Duncan I may have seen that prizewinning work over at IMSLP...)

[eschiss1]

Holbrooke also would count here for the trio-Nocturne "Fairyland" published in 1917 "for Viola, Oboe or (or Oboe d'amore) or (Clarinet in B♭) or Flute and Piano".

[Simon]

Thanks Eric,
I was wrong, Frugatta is really a Quintet, there's no viola, so only violin, clarinet, horn, cello and piano (corrected above). I guess this combination was meant to "complete" Brahms' Trios (op. 40 for violin, horn and piano, and op. 114 for clarinet, cello and piano).

I see that Vaughan Williams' early Quintet for this combination was written in 1898. There's no information though on Hyperion's website (there's a recording by the Nash Ensemble) about Vaughan Williams entering Lesley Alexander Competition.

And finally, Dunhill's Horn Quintet was among finalists, though it was won by Emil Kreuz. There's an entry in his 1900 diary that makes it clear (top of page 3, here) :

http://www.thomasdunhill.com/td/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/19001.pdf

[eschiss1]

Emil Kreuz- there's a name I've been seeing more and more of, because of IMSLP. Hadn't heard of him before. I wonder if the orchestra parts to his viola concerto (pub.1885?) still exist... The horn quintet in question is (its 1901 Augener parts - there is a 2003 Amadeus reprint) here .

You say he won (which I guess makes sense since the quintet is called "Prize-Quintet")? Which year? He's not listed in the list of prize-winners of the Alexander Prize...